Chaya Singh, the actress-turned-filmmaker, is looking forward to making movies down south too

    Chaya Singh never really took a break, but she’s been missing from all the action in Sandalwood and Kollywood. The actress is back, however, on the big screen, though this time around, she prefers to wield the camera.
You haven’t been seen around for some time.

1.What have you been busy with?
My last project was in Kannada and was a short film called Simply Kailasam. Critics liked the the film and I’m really happy with the response I received.
2.Are you working on a project now?
 I just turned director with a Bengali film, that we haven’t named as yet. I play the female protagonist, albeit with shades of grey. The role was challenging since I was in front and behind the camera. But the experience was wonderful!
3.Have you always wanted to be a director?
I’ve always dreamt of being behind the camera and calling the shots and this opportunity just happened. When the story was narrated to me, I knew I wanted to do the film and there were talks of co-directing it. I never dreamt it would happen, but I’m happy, it did. Would you be directing any projects down south too? I am looking forward to a few projects here, direction included. But I haven’t received the kind of roles that Bengali cinema is offering me. My next project takes off by the end of February. It’s called Udan Chidiya and is a mythological film.
4.Are you still known as the 
Manmada Raasa girl? 
Thankfully not! Not that I have any problems with the song, just that I’d rather be known as Chaya Singh. Even in Tamil Nadu, people remember me from my ads and other projects and that’s reassuring. I don’t want to be typecast and that’s why I’ve
been refusing projects from the south. People know me for my work, and I want it to remain that way. So what’s the next offering for fans from Karnataka? I do have a Kannada project in the pipeline and might even end up directing one, but that will have to wait. For now, I need to focus on the projects I have and I am enjoying my new found passion in direction.

Yeh Saali Zindagi movie review, images, story and rating

Writer-director Sudhir Mishra’s Yeh Saali Zindagi is the most twisted love story you’ll see this year. There are so many characters, sub- plots, voice-overs, flash-backs, intrigues and counter-intrigues that you will need a master-guide to keep it straight.

The film is much too long, indulgent and exhausting but if you’re willing to work with it, there is considerable fun to be had.

Irrfan Khan plays Arun, a somewhat shady fixer, who works with the equally shady Mehta, played by Saurabh Shukla. I couldn’t quite figure out what business these men are in but it seems to be some combination of real estate, money laundering and generally thuggish operations.

Arun falls in love with Priti, played by Chitrangda Singh, but doesn’t find the time to tell her so she gets into a relationship with another man.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep, a criminal-trying-to-go-straight, played by Arunoday Singh, is having relationship troubles of his own. His wife is vehemently against his occupation but passionate about him.

There’s also assorted thugs, corrupt politicians, corrupt policemen and even a smooth criminal with an intriguing passion for fashion.

What works here is the writing, especially the deliciously wicked dialogue written by Manu Rishi and Mishra.

There are some killer lines and a liberal use of choice Hindi curse words – it seems like no Delhi-based film can work without that. Mishra has great affection for his characters. Each one gets a little detail that defines him. So Mehta’s password on his computer is: Main Shayar Toh Nahin. Mishra also finds the vein of dark, droll humour that runs through a gangster’s life. So in the midst of a kidnapping operation, Kuldeep is summoned to his son’s school because his son has beat up another child and there is a lovely scene in which Mehta is threatened by
rivals as he lies naked on a massage table.

After they’ve left, he tells the masseuse to continue because, yeh toh hota rehta hai.

The trouble is that these terrific moments are buried in too much plot and too much chatter. It’s almost as if the director was bursting with a hundred stories and decided to tell them all at once.

Yeh Saali Zindagi needed to be shorter and less flabby. I also wish that Arunoday and Chitrangda were more forceful actors - thankfully Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh and a host of other strong performers ably prop them up. Eventually then, Yeh Saali Zindagi doesn’t hit all the high marks it sets for itself but it provides enough crackle to keep you entertained. Check it out.

Australian cyclone news most powerful in a century

Queensland: The most powerful storm in a century ripped across Australia's northeast coast early on Thursday, blasting apart houses, laying waste to banana crops and leaving boats lying in the streets.

Cyclone Yasi swept entire towns in the disaster zone stretching for hundreds of kilometers leaving thousands homeless.

Authorities say they were surprised to learn at daybreak that no one had been reported killed, but cautioned that bad news could eventually emerge from communities still cut off after the overnight storm.

Hundreds of thousands of people spent the night huddled in evacuation centres or bunkered in their homes with winds gusting to 300 kilometers per hour causing tidal surges that swamped coastal areas.

More than 10,000 people in 20 evacuation centres were being told they could not leave yet.

Power was cut to almost 180,000 houses in the region.

The largest towns in the path of the cyclone, including Cairns and Townsville, were spared the worst of the fierce winds. Although many trees were knocked down, only a few buildings were damaged.

Cyclone Yasi is now moving further inland but thankfully is losing power.

Star birthdays in February

Star birthdays this month

01 February

Jackie Shroff

02 February

Renu Chowdhary

Ambrish Sangal

Arun Mathur

Shamita Sheety

03 February

Waheeda Rehman

K. D. Shorey

Deepti Naval

04 February

Joginder

Urmila Matondkar

05 February

Abhishek Bachchan

06 February

Satyen Kappu

07 February

Manohar Deepak

08 February

Rakesh Bedi

Dolly Minhas

Jagjit Singh

09 February

Rahul Roy

Indra Kumar

Amrita Singh

10 February

Girija Shankar

11 February

Tina Munim

12 February

Pran

13 February

Bharati Achrekar

Sharad Kapoor

14 February

Manoj Desai

15 February

Randhir Kapoor

Harish Bhimani

18 February

Sajid Nadiadwala

Khayyam

Nimmi

Sumeet Saigal

19 February

Sonu Walia

20 February

Anu Kapoor

21 February

Sulabha Deshpande

Jayshree Gadkar

22 February

Sooraj Barajayta

23 February

Shobha Joshi

Ayub Khan

Bhagyashree

24 February

Pooja Bhatt

Naqsh Lyallpuri

Sameer

Divya Rana

Talat Mahmood

25 February

Shahid Kapur

Danny Denzongpa

27 February

Kunika

Prakash Jha

28 February

Anita Raj Hingorani

Ravindra Jain

Varsha Usgoankar

Kannada actress radhikas daughter Shamika K swamy

Deepika acting with Super star Rajnikanth in RANA

ad An Essay On The Beauty Of Katrina Kaif.

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who made her debut in Kannada film with Aishwarya, has been offered female lead in Rajinikanth's next film Rana. But the actress is yet to give the nod to act in the film.

Buzz up!

Deepika has admitted that she has got offer to pair superstar Rajini in upcoming animation film Rana. But she is yet to give green signal, as her dates are fully packed in 2011. She is trying to workout on her dates and she does not want to miss this golden opportunity of her life time, added Deepika.

Deepika said that she is a big fan of Rajinikanth and it is an honour to be offered to star opposite Rajnikanth.